Measles, A Contegious Killer

Maurice Hilleman's
measles vaccine is
 estimated to prevent
 1 million deaths
 per year.

       Estimates based on modern molecular biology place the emergence of measles as a human disease sometime after 500 AD. (The former speculation that the Antonine Plague of 165–180 AD was caused by measles is now discounted.) The first systematic description of measles, and its distinction from smallpox and chickenpox, is credited to the Persian physician Rhazes (860–932), who published The Book of Smallpox and Measles. Given what is now known about the evolution of measles, Rhazes' account is remarkably timely, as recent work that examined the mutation rate of the virus indicates the measles virus emerged from rinderpest (Cattle Plague) as a zoonotic disease between 1100 and 1200 AD, a period that may have been preceded by limited outbreaks involving a virus not yet fully acclimated to humans. This agrees with the observation that measles requires a susceptible population of >500,000 to sustain an epidemic, a situation that occurred in historic times following the growth of medieval European cities.

       Measles is an endemic disease, meaning it has been continually present in a community, and many people develop resistance. In populations not exposed to measles, exposure to the new disease can be devastating. In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of those natives who had previously survived smallpox. Two years later, measles was responsible for the deaths of half the population of Honduras, and it had ravaged Mexico, Central America, and the Inca civilization.

Baby with Measles.

       Between roughly 1855 and 2005, measles has been estimated to have killed about 200 million people worldwide. Measles killed 20 percent of Hawaii's population in the 1850s. In 1875, measles killed over 40,000 Fijians, approximately one-third of the population. In the 19th century, the disease killed 50% of the Andamanese population. Seven to eight million children are thought to have died from measles each year before the vaccine was introduced.

       In 1954, the virus causing the disease was isolated from a 13-year-old boy from the United States, David Edmonston, and adapted and propagated on chick embryo tissue culture. To date, 21 strains of the measles virus have been identified. While at Merck, Maurice Hilleman developed the first successful vaccine. Licensed vaccines to prevent the disease became available in 1963. An improved measles vaccine became available in 1968. Measles as an endemic disease was eliminated from the United States in 2000, but continues to be reintroduced by international travelers.

•  About Measles from KidsHealth
• Artifact: Memorandum On Measles Published by His Majesty's Stationary Office, London, 1911, eight page document
• Initiative for Vaccine Research (IVR): Measles, World Health Organization (WHO)
• Measles FAQ from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States
• Case of an adult male with measles (facial photo)
• Clinical pictures of measles
• Virus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR): Paramyxoviridae
• Do children still get measles?
• Visit Doctors Without Borders